KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Despite having ignited success and inspiration in the digital space industry, women still face challenges in the digital world, such as harassment, doxing and sexism, according to Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

Quoting a Kaspersky Report published last month, Teo said 46 per cent of Malaysian respondents experienced various forms of online violence and harassment.

"This is unacceptable and we must take decisive action to create safer and more inclusive digital environments,” she said in her speech at the ‘Inclusivity and Empowerment in the Digital Space’ forum here today.

At the same time, she said it is also imperative that women take proactive steps to equip themselves with the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid falling victim to digital scams while participating in the digital economy.

She said digital platforms and organisations must also be held accountable for fostering fair and respectful online environments.

"We need to play a role in reporting online gender-based violence when we see it on social media platforms and call out anyone who posts such violative content,” she said.

Speaking to reporters after the forum, Teo also said that from January 2023 until Feb 15 this year, 709 pornographic content had been removed from social media through the collaboration of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and social media platform providers.

During the same period, 2,525 posts containing bullying or harassment elements were also removed.

"All of these are part of the efforts by the Ministry of Communications through the MCMC to ensure that these platforms are not being misused,” she said.

She also urged social media platform providers to tighten their user guidelines to show no tolerance for any form of online violence. — Bernama